Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Wee-Bit Wednesday: Desert Walker Edition

One of my regular posts, uh, back when I posted regularly, was what I called
Wee-Bit Wednesdays. This was my take on the Teaser Tuesdays that everyone in the
blogosphere did at the time. Same premise, different day. [side note: now
some people do WIP Wednesdays, like my phenomenally talented friend, Ruthie
Knox - check her out too!]

Now that I once again
have WIPs (two to be exact) I want to bring this back as an opportunity to show
you guys what I'm working on and bring you along on my journey as I attempt my
second and third books in the Prophecy of Souls trilogy.

(Also, I'm
hoping to draw you into my web deep enough that you'll put on the velour sweat
suits, drink the kool-aid and eventually purchase my books when they're
published. But, you know, semantics.)

So, to kick off this awesome weekly
(or bi-weekly, or bi-monthly...okay, really the only guarantee is that it will
always be on a Wednesday...which Wednesdays will be a fun surprise,
much like finding the center of a tootsie pop) here is a Wee-Bit from the final
book of the trilogy, Soul
Seduction.

Gabriel
took several long pulls of his cold beer, not even taking the time to enjoy the
taste, just needing it to quench his thirst and give him the false sense of
hydration. Looking out at the dusty highway and stretch of desert beyond, he
wondered how his family was doing back in Chicago. How long had it been since
he’d called? Six months? Nine? He reached down with one hand and absently
scratched Czar’s head as he tried to remember. Well, however long it had been,
it’d been a while ago. He should probably call. They didn’t have his number or
his address. Their only regular proof of life was the unmarked package he had to
ship them once a month. His mom was probably having fits and ranting about
stress wrinkles, which was impossible, considering she’d stopped aging
twenty-six years ago before he’d even been born.

Czar sat up quickly and
looked down the endless stretch of desert highway.

"Customer coming,
boy?" It wasn’t unusual for the dog to sense or hear the people who were forced
to walk to his shop. In the middle of absolutely nowhere, his place was the only
one for miles that could offer repairs if something should go wrong. He also had
a gas pump he kept stocked for the occasional piss-poor cross-country planner,
and if they needed it, a clean and sparse room to sleep for a night or two. He
hated the intrusion on his privacy, hated dealing with touristy travelers, but
it helped pay the bills and fund his restoration hobby, so he dealt with it as
best he could.

As the figure started to take shape behind the wavy lines
of heat rising from the asphalt, Gabriel drained the last of his beer and set it
on the table. This was no ordinary cross-country tourist. For one, she was
alone, and no male companion in his right mind would send her on ahead while he
stayed behind. And for two, she didn’t have that panicky
oh-my-God-what-am-I-going-to-do edge to her that most people had when they
approached him in hopes he was the oasis they’d seen advertised on the roadside
signs he’d made.

Nope. This girl was actually sauntering up the highway
as though this type of thing happened to her all the time.

A straw-woven
cowboy hat protected her from the harsh desert sun and prevented him from
getting a good look at her face, but as his eyes trailed farther down, he
could’ve cared less what her face looked like. The tails of her white sleeveless
button-down top were tied in a knot under her breasts, baring a long and slender
midriff that damn near gave the impression she was half-naked until the band of
her low-rise jean shorts ruined it just as he was getting to the good part.
Fortunately, the material was so minimal that the bottoms of her pockets peeked
out from under the frayed hems, revealing mile-long tanned legs with cowboy
boots eating up the road in graceful strides.